


Diablerie

by amethystinesaint



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, d1 era, morally dubious guardian activities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 17:34:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20728121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amethystinesaint/pseuds/amethystinesaint
Summary: A Sunbreaker mercenary gets the opportunity to work with a Warlock of the Praxic Order. It goes about as well as anyone would expect.





	Diablerie

As guilty as she was admitting it, mercenary work tended to be much more fun than doing work for the Queen in Ava's experience. She was loyal through and through, but it tended to get repetitive killing or capturing Fallen targets after a while. Getting jobs was much more of a gamble, however. It kept life interesting. 

In her room at the Sunbreaker stronghold, she lay on her couch, splayed out in seldom-found comfort. She looked through lists of submitted contracts, mostly unimpressed. Bodyguard jobs? She'd done more than enough for one lifetime. Retrieval jobs were usually either mind numbingly boring, or too complicated to risk. She'd already almost lost her Ghost to a hoarding Captain on the last one, so she wasn't tempted. Assassination missions were interesting, if only for the thrill of the hunt. After passing by dozens of requests, she thought she might actually get an off day. 

"Oh, hello!" She said in surprise, sitting up and showing her datapad to Kindle. "Look at this. A mission from the Praxic Order. Looks like this'll be an interesting one." she laughed, grinning at her Ghost. 

"It says Highly Confidential. Probably will involve sneaking. They do realize they're asking a Titan, right?" 

"I wouldn't put it past 'em. They must be on an incompetency streak if they have to ask for help." In the request were coordinates in the City to meet, however, nothing on what she'd actually be doing. "At least it's gonna pay well." she shrugged, standing up and retrieving her armor from a closet. She almost never came to the City, and made it a point to avoid it. However, curiosity got the better of her this time. 

The place she was supposed to meet her contact turned out to be a small cafe in the middle of the City. It was surprisingly quiet there. She saw an Awoken woman with long, black robes contrasted by stark white hair and purple skin sitting alone at a table. She could only assume she'd found her mark. As she approached and sat down next to her, the woman just smiled at her. 

She finally spoke after a few moments of silence. "You're Ava, I'm assuming?" 

Ava sighed. "What'd I do this time?" Now that she had the opportunity, she studied her more closely. Her red eyes were a bit off putting, but was offset by her pleasant smile. Everything about her, her robes, her hair, even her Ghost’s shell was immaculate. A typical Warlock if she'd ever seen one.

The other woman looked confused, and laughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry, that wasn't the meaning of my message." 

"Yeah, I know." Ava rolled her eyes, not surprised a Warlock like her didn't get the joke. "You didn't tell me what I'm here for, though. And how much I'm getting paid." 

"Ah, right. First off, I'm Xavani of the Praxic Order and Ikora's Hidden. Though I'm not sure if that means anything to you." she explained, clearly realizing it was probably lost on Ava after she'd already said it. 

Ava stared back at her. "And?" She gestured for her to keep going. 

"Simply put, we've located a group of Dredgen cult members that are meeting later tonight. Our mission is to capture them. And don't worry, there's plenty of glimmer in it for you."

"Dredgens? I thought they were just a myth." she laughed. "Why me, though?"

"Yes, they're quite real. I've seen what those Thorns can do myself. And as I said in our correspondence, we don't need anyone knowing what we're doing. You not being of the City reduces the chance of a leak." She gave an awkward smile. "I hope, at least."

Ava let out a single huff as a laugh, rolling her eyes. She hummed, thinking it over. "Fine. Sounds like this'll be interesting." 

"Great!" Xavani said, grinning. "Let's get to it, then."

As the day waned, Xavani led them to a nearly abandoned sector, dangerously close to the Wall. She set up on the roof of an apartment building overlooking an old decrepit factory. "Sundown will be soon. We need to hurry." she said while transmatting her sniper rifle into her hands, and setting up a sniping position. 

"What's the plan, then?"

"You're going to go in, posing as a new member. From there, you subdue them. Should be easy for you." she said as she loaded the rounds into her rifle one by one, glancing up at Ava. "I'll cover you from up here. Once it's all over, I'll come down and we'll take things from there. Savvy?"

"You want me to pretend to be one of those degenerates?" Ava grimaced. "I suppose I've done worse." she sighed, shrugging. "See you on the other side." 

Through the shadows, she could already see figures heading into the old building. Inside it was dimly lit, and she could see a group of people congregated in the main room. Most of them wore dark armor, and even an outsider like her knew a Thorn when she saw one. It was sickening, being so close to such brazen displays of Darkness. Her hand never strayed far from her own hand cannon on her hip.

"Who are you?" one of the figures called out to her. Before she could make up a lie, they spoke again, hostility apparent in their voice. "You aren't one of ours." In the darkness, she could see at least a half dozen Thorns trained on her. 

"Goddamn it." Ava groaned to herself. At least this would make things much easier, she thought. With no sense in delaying the inevitable, she drew her gun, immediately putting a round in the person's chest. A sigh from Xavani came over the comms as another shot came through one of the windows. Ava put two of them down with her hand cannon, trying to ignore the searing pain of the Thorns being shot at her. Xavani had taken the rest of them down with her rifle before Ava could even summon her Hammer. 

After the cult members lay still and it had quieted down, Xavani came down and rounded up the derelict Ghosts. One of them tried buzzing through a window, before Ava snatched it from the air.

"You'd sell quite nicely." she mused, looking it in the eye. She looked over at Xavani, who was still busy putting restraints on the Ghosts. “That was a bit brutal, but simpler than I expected. Guess they aren’t that scary after all.”

“Well, these were relatively new members. Not too much of a threat.” Xavani smiled. “For us, at least.”

As they were ready to leave, another shot came from the darkness. A lone final Dredgen decided to push their luck, much to their misfortune. Ava spun around to face them, transmatting her shotgun into her open hand.

_ "Fucker." _ she spat, firing her shotgun into them. She fired again into the fleeing Ghost, its fragments clattering on the concrete.__

_ _"Oh my god!" Xavani gasped, running over to her. She couldn't help but stare at the dead Ghost in paralyzing shock. "I've never- I've never seen a Guardian die before."_ _

_ _"Can you really call 'em Guardians?" Ava winced, her grasp on the Ghost tightening as it writhed in her hand. "Hope that didn't ruin your plans." she spoke low, with a dry laugh._ _

_ _Xavani looked at her, lips pursed. Even though they were certainly no friend of hers, she still felt bad for the dead Guardian that lay at her feet. "Well, it's not ideal. I… suppose it’s better than the alternative, though." The shock had left her, and now she was left wondering what she'd do with the body. She knew the Order wouldn't mind, at least. She turned to face the mercenary. "Are you alright? Those Thorns are vicious." she asked, priming an orb of healing Light. _ _

_ _"Yeah, say that again after you've been shot by them." Ava muttered. "I'll be fine. Barely broke my shields." She looked down at herself and pulled a bolt out of her armor - a superficial wound._ _

_ _"I'm sorry." Xavani said with serious regret. "I was hoping it would've gone a bit smoother." Even though she'd seen all of this coming, she was telling the truth. She never liked unnecessary violence. _ _

_ _"Are you kidding me? That was smooth." Ava turned the Ghost around in her hand, a grim smile on her face. Xavani was a bit uncomfortable thinking of its fate, especially since she knew it, but she had no sympathy for those that consort with the Darkness. _ _

_ _"The Praxic Order thanks you. I'll see you next time." she nodded. She extended her palm and her Ghost appeared in a flash of light. Immediately, Tanngrisnir fled behind her, wary of the other woman. Ava gave him a sharp-toothed grin in return. _ _

_ _"Was a pleasure." Ava replied with a wave of her hand, before transmatting away to her ship._ _


End file.
